How do we fund it?

Ka pehea te kohi?

Our hives are FREE! We have various funders to support our concept. One of the Bee Awesome end goals is financial sustainability so selling hive-made products will help fund the hive.  

Honey

Beeswax Wraps

Candles

How does it work?

Ka pēhea te mahi?

Flexible program. Start anytime. As comprehensive as needed.

Choose Your Programme Plan:

Queen Plan

• Beehive onsite
• Group coordinator teaches
the classes

Bonus:
Students can sell honey and wax related products!

Worker Bee Plan

• Beehive offsite
• Lesson plans available to use as you wish

Drone Plan

• Beehive offsite
• Interested students create a Bee Group and our coordinator
teaches them.

Programme Outline

Te anga o te hōtaka

August / Hereturikōkā
What are the bees doing?
What are we doing?
Optional

• The queen is cozy, laying a few more eggs each day.
• “Females only” in the hive.
• Workers taking flights on mild days.

Find best site for beehive.
Look at water and food sources.

Lesson 1 – What kind of bee is that?

• Three different kinds of bees
• Physical characteristics, strengths and life cycle.

Students can

• Make beehive
• Sow/propagate bee-friendly plants
• Test the water source

September / Mahuru
What are the bees doing?
What are we doing?
Optional
• Longer days
• Queen laying more eggs
• The bees eating the honey.

The new colony will be brought to your school.

Lesson 2 – How does the beehive work?

• How the different bees work together
• How the beehive works as a whole.

Students can

• Create a Bee Diary – Students observe the hive daily and record their findings.

October / Whiringa-ā-nuku
What are the bees doing?
What are we doing?
Optional

• Weather is improving
• Bees are gathering pollen
• The queen is laying eggs
• The drones are appearing.

Lesson 3 – Why should we care about bees?

We look at the relationship between humans and bees.

• Why do we need them?
•How can we help?

November / Whiringa-ā-rangi
What are the bees doing?
What are we doing?
Optional

• The hive is buzzing!
• The nectar and pollen is starting to come into the hive.
• The queen is laying lots of eggs.

Lesson 4 – How do the bees help the ecosystem?

We look at the bigger picture – a world without bees.

December / Hakihea
What are the bees doing?
What are we doing?
Optional

• Our bees are busy.
• The queen isn’t laying as many eggs, but honey flow is hopefully starting!

A very busy month at school.

No formal lesson.

Beekeeper will visit and open the hive.

(Maybe weekly at this time)

Students can observe when the hive is opened.
January / Kohitātea
What are the bees doing?
What are we doing?
Optional

• The honey is flowing this month when the weather is good.

School is closed this month.

The beekeeper continues to visit.

A live cam could be set up.
February / Huitānguru
What are the bees doing?
What are we doing?
Optional

• The colony is slowing down.
• The drones are still around.
• Outside activity is slowing down as the nectar flow slows.

Lesson 5 – Show me the honey, honey!

The students help to extract the honey and we can bottle it up, ready to sell.

Students can make other bee-related products to sell

• beeswax candles,
• wraps,
• beauty products.

March / Poutūterangi
What are the bees doing?
What are we doing?
Optional

• The drones are disappearing
• The hive population is dropping off
• The queen stops laying so many eggs.

Our beekeeper will visit this month and prepare the hive for winter.

Students help get the hive ready for winter e.g.repairing the hive.

They can continue making and selling products.

April / Paengawhāwhā to August / Hereturikōkā
What are the bees doing?
What are we doing?
Optional

• The bees are hibernating for winter so very little activity.

Our beekeeper will continue to visit every month and do any maintenance work that is needed.

Students give us feedback.

Make promo videos for other schools to see.

Overall Learning Objectives

Ngā Whāinga Ako Whānui

Children will be able to:

Understand the importance of managing a hive

Identify key conditions of a hive

Identify ways to maintain and improve hive health

Know how a hive is managed over a season

Know how to keep safe around hives

NZ Curriculum Achievement Objectives

Levels 1 & 2

Science

Levels 1-2 – Living World

Students will: extend  their experiences and  personal explanations  of the natural world  through exploration, play, asking questions,  and discussing simple  models.

Levels 1-2 – Living World

Students will: recognise that all living things have certain requirements so they
can stay alive.

Levels 1-2 – Living World

Students will: recognise that living
things are suited to their particular habitat.

Levels 1-2 – Planet Earth & Beyond

Students will: describe how natural  features are changed and resources affected  by natural events and  human actions.

Social Science

Levels 1-2 – Objective 1

Students will: Understand that people  have social, cultural and  economic roles, rights  and responsibilities.

Levels 1-2 – Objective 2

Students will:Understand how places influence people and people influence places.

Health & P.E.

Level 2 – Ideas

Students will: identify risk and use safe practices in a range of contexts.

Level 2 – Ideas

Students will: express their ideas, needs, wants and feelings appropriately and listen sensitively to other people and affirm them.

Level 2 – Ideas

Students will: contribute to and use simple guidelines and practices that promote physically and socially healthy classrooms, schools and local environments.

Level 2 – Ideas

Students will: Describe their stages of growth and their development needs and demonstrate increasing responsibility of self-care.

Technology

Level 2 – Nature of Technology

Students will: understand that technology both reflects and changes society and the environment and
increases people’s capability.

Speaking

Level 2 – Ideas

Students will: form and express ideas and information with reasonable clarity, often drawing on personal experience and knowledge.

NZ Curriculum Achievement Objectives

Levels 3 & 4

Science

Level 3 – Living World

Students will: extend their experiences and personal explanations of the natural world through exploration, play, asking questions, and discussing simple models.

Level 3 – Living World

Students will: begin to group plants, animals, and other living things into science-based classifications.

Level 3 – Living World

Students will:Explain how living things are suited to their particular habitat and how they respond to environmental changes, both natural and human-induced.

Level 3 – Living World

Students will: Explore how the groups of living things have changed over long periods of time and appreciate that some living things in NZ are quite different.

Social Science

Level 4 – Objective 1

Students will: Understand that events have causes and effects.

Level 4 – Objective 2

Students will: Understand how people participate individually and collectively in response to community challenges.

Health & P.E.

Level 3 – Ideas

Students will: identify risks and their causes and describe safe practices to manage these.

Level 3 – Ideas

Students will: Describe how their own feelings, beliefs, and actions and those of other people, contribute to their personal sense of self worth.

Level 3 – Ideas

Students will: Maintain regular participation in enjoyable physical activities in a range of environments and describe how these assist in the promotion of well-being.

Level 3 – Ideas

Students will: Identify factors that affect personal, physical, social, and emotional growth and develop skills to manage changes.

Technology

Level 3 – Nature of Technology

Students will: understand how society and environments impact on and are influenced by technology in historical and contemporary contexts and that technological knowledge is validated by successful function.

Speaking

Level 3 – Ideas

Students will: integrate sources of information, processes, and strategies with confidence to identify, form and express ideas.

Education for Sustainability

What is education for sustainability? (From the TKINZ curriculum)

New Zealand’s national curriculum focuses on 21st century learning, ensuring learners are equipped to participate in and contribute to their own society and the wider world. An important aspect of this is encouraging students to consider significant future-focused issues such as sustainability.

Education for sustainability (EfS) is about learning to think and act in ways that will safeguard the future wellbeing of people and our planet.

Education for sustainability includes learning about:

The Environment

water, land, ecosystems, energy, waste, urban living, transportation

The intersections

between the natural environment and human activities, and the consequences of these

The choices and actions

we can take to prevent, reduce, or change harmful activities to the environment

Central to this learning is the exploration of attitudes, values, and behaviours with respect to the environment – both our own and those of others.

Sustainable Development Goals

Free Resources

Honey ANZAC Biscuits

Honey ANZAC Biscuits

The recipe for the Anzac Biscuit came from biscuits baked by wives and mothers at home for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) that fought with the Allies in the First World War.

read more

Interested in signing up your school to the Bee Awesome programme?

Fill out the quick contact form and one of our Bee Awesome team will be in touch!

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